We are two librarians with a lifetime love of libraries. We have worked in a wide variety of libraries, and have visited many others. We rejoice in their survival but mourn the fact that, just as in the wider economy, there is an immense distance between those that are well-funded and those -- often public libraries in smaller, more rural communities -- which struggle to continue to provide services. We are dazzled by the new technology but also amused by the well-loved holdovers from decades past, from newspaper sticks to flannel boards. Our book, The Long Overdue Library Book, is a collection of memories and tales and pictures contributed by the two of us and our friends and colleagues. We want this book to be the means of raising money for Friends of the Library. Currently we are supporting the Friends of the Ridgecrest Branch Library in California. You can buy copies from them by writing Friends of the Ridgecrest Branch Library, 131 E. Flores Avenue, Ridgecrest, California 93555, or you can purchase a paper or e-book copy through Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Long-Overdue-Library-Book-Librarians/dp/1490572430 We've started this blog because we continue to hear news about libraries that we want to share with our friends. We hope you'll send us pictures, notes, stories or anything else that might apply.

Elsa and Sandy Bios Elsa Pendleton received her bachelor’s degree with Oberlin College and her master’s degree in library science from Louisiana State University. She has written two other books, Pinyon Creek, California: A Novel of the California Water Wars, and Death byChocolate, a library mystery. She and her husband have traveled widely and created a website, bobandelsa.com with photographs, travel writings and family musings. They have two children and five grandchildren of which they are inordinately proud. Sandy Bradley received her bachelor’s degree from Occidental College and her master’s of library science from the University of Southern California. The Long Overdue Library Book is her first. She and her husband, Jerry, split their time between the desert and the beach in California. They have four great children and two exceptionally wonderful grandchildren. Elsa and Sandy have over 80 years of combined library experience in every type of library. They are selling this book to promote libraries and literacy efforts. All proceeds from the sales of the book go to support public libraries. They have created this blog where people can share their own library stories and concerns.